Netflix Games goes live on iPhone and iPad with 5 titles to choose from

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Netflix Games goes live on iPhone and iPad
Included with your Netflix subscription.
Image: Netflix

Netflix Games is now available on iPhone and iPad, just over one week after making its debut on Android. Users can access all titles through the main Netflix app, but — as expected — they must be downloaded individually.

The service offers five games to begin with, including the two Stranger Things titles that were already available on iOS, and is available at no extra cost to those who already have a Netflix subscription.

Netflix Games takes on Apple Arcade

Netflix Games is a little like Apple Arcade. Users get unlimited access to its entire catalog with their Netflix subscription, and all games are available in their entirety without adds, in-app purchases, or other additional fees.

The big different between Netflix Games and Apple Arcade at the moment is the selection of titles available. While Apple’s service offers more than 100 games to play, Netflix Games launches with just five — and only three are new.

In addition to Stranger Things: 1984 and Stranger Things 3: The Game, subscribers can play Shooting Hoops, Card Blast, and Teeter Up. Netflix promises that more (hopefully a lot more) will be added later.

Games must be downloaded individually

You can find all games inside the main Netflix app, but to play them, you must download and install them individually. It’s the only way Netflix is able to comply with the App Store rules that block the likes of Google Stadia.

Netflix Games by itself is a hard sell right now given its incredibly skimpy catalog. But the fact that it’s available at no extra cost alongside Netflix’s video streaming service makes it a nice bonus for mobile gamers.

And it’s now possible to subscribe to Netflix on your iPhone or iPad by downloading one of the games and purchasing a subscription through the App Store, priced at $13.99 a month.

Netflix still doesn’t provide this option through its main app. It instead asks users to sign up online, directly through its website, so that it can sidestep the 30% cut Apple takes from big developers during the first year.

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